JD: The State Of The Music Business – Part 5 of 5
We definitely had fun this week with the exclusive 5 part series featuring Jermaine Dupri. Hate him or Love him, JD has never been shy about speaking his mind (sometimes I think people hear what they want to hear instead of listening to the intended message that he is giving). Based on the feedback, emails, and comments… some of the messages were not received. For example, in part 1 of the series JD discussed The Death Of The DJ. This is not coming from the perspective of a new exec in the game… this is coming from the perspective of someone who has been in the game for almost 20 years and saw what the DJ used to be and what the DJ is today. We don’t knock anyone trying to get money because Money is what makes the World go Around… but the point is – How can you be the DJ and do your job effectively when you are more focused on handing out YOUR music than playing music from the ARTIST?
In Part 2, JD said Money Fucked Up the Game… is he partially to blame for that? of course! He openly admits that in the interview.. but the fact remains that THE URBAN MUSIC BIZ IS FUCKED UP right now and who is going to step up and try to get it right? Money fucked up the game.. recognize and try to figure out a solution. Let this dialogue spark the change to get it right so people can start making good music again, which will lead to more record sales, which will correct the situation. In part 3, JD talked about the current state of music.. We say music but we aren’t talking about Pop or Country, we are talking about URBAN MUSIC. This is an insiders account of the game from the board room… maybe perception on the outside is different but take a look at the charts and you will see the trends. It is getting increasingly harder for labels to break new acts because they are SCARED IN THIS CLIMATE TO INVEST IN AN UNPROVEN COMMODITY. In Part 4, JD asked the question Why Do People Want to Get In The Music Biz?.. but the question might have confused some. Obviously we know that people want fame and fortune.. that wasn’t the point. The real question should have been – Given the state of affairs in the music biz, why do people STILL want to get in the music biz? The sales are down.. the money is not the same… the market is way over saturated… so what is the motivation? Why not try to take another route in entertainment if entertainment is your passion?
We conclude today with Part 5. JD explains why he started doing the Living The Life series on youtube. We spoke about this again yesterday and he basically said that we are in a new generation that doesn’t know their history beyond the last 4 years… they don’t know his accomplishments… they don’t know about how the Dj used to rock.. they don’t know about the grind and the struggle that people used to have to go through to be a part of this business. Shit.. I know that there is some truth to that because of all of the msg’s that I got last week after we showed the Todd 1 Throwback Reel.
In conclusion, this week showed that these kind of “series” are a necessary platform for people to communicate in this day and age. Where else could you go and have dialogue with top ranking execs FOR FREE??? There are conventions and seminars from time to time… but this is ACCESS to the information that you need at your fingertips with direct communication to and from.
JD was the first, but he will not be the last. Who would you like to see interviewed in the future? Let’s keep this dialogue an open forum between the readers and the people that they want to hear from.
Living The Life
MONEY AINT A THING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KEEP DOIN YOUR THING JD ONE DAY HOPEFULLY WIT SOME HEAVY PRAYING LOLLOLOLOLO…… ILL BE THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yo J. D. I hear you and see where your coming from. Music as a whole is changing and your blog is helping it chnage for the better. And I would love to see ypou interview Diddy, Kanye West, Nelly, Ciara, Usher and different people you know in the industry to see how they got where they at and also to see how the feel about the chaange in the industry. http://www.myspace.com/djtriumph383 http://www.djtriumph.blogspot.com
First, I would like to say I appreciate all that you’ve done for the careers of such artists and groups as X-scape, Da Brat, Kriss-Kross, Jagged Edge,Mariah Carey, Usher, Jay-z, “Lil Bow Wow”,Bow Wow and a list that goes on and on and on….. I consider myself a student first and foremost before anything in this business. I dont know much about the business, but I do know that Jermaine is a Veteran and Pioneer in the game. I remember the profound influence Kriss Kross had on kids back in the day when i attend middle school. Anything that you say should be taken into importance because you’ve accomplished so much. Jermaine, continue with the videos brah, they are much appreciated and needed. Not many execs would reach out like this and speak to a generation that doesnt know much about the business.
No doubt, keep living the life, homie. Hard work pays off. I do, however, request that you and the others in your bracket show (or continue to show depending on the case) the younger generations that there is more to living life than paper chasing. Often times in their pursuit of that Lamborghini life, they’re running up on people ending lives to better live their life.
Gas is almost 5$ a gallon, people are dying unjustly while those of the life throw money in the air.
“Message in the music” – O’Jays
JD MUCH RESPECT FOR WHAT YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY OVER THE YEARS. WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH Q? HE’S BEEN ON YOUR ROSTER FOR YEARS? WHEN IS HE GONNA DROP A JOINT?
JD,
They don’t understand you were one of the first DJ in the “A” that was up on the mixtape game. You were doing mixtape before cats even knew what a mix tape was. It’s sad and crazy people don’t understand your history. You were before Puffy and Jay-Z. You were getting it while most of them was still in high school or on the block. They don’t understand how long your money is!!!!!!!LOL What’s more funny folks in your own camp don’t understand your history!!!!!!LOL, but we have to reminder alot of the new cats was just born when you made your first million, so you can’t be too mad!
I FUCKS WIT SOME OF UR LIVING THE LIFE SCENES AINT NOTHING WRONG WIT THEM …U WORKED 4 WHAT U GOT SO U SPEND UR SHIT ON WHAT U WANT……
JD CAN U EXPLAIN 2 US THE PEOPLE WHAT IS ALL THESE PEOPLE WIT TITLES IN THE INDUSTRY JOBS R LIKE WHEN IT COMES 2 A ARTIST? CUZ IM TIRED OF ASKIN ARTIST WHEN THEY COMING OUT OR Y R THEY NOT OUT AND I GET ANSWERS LIKE…..I GOTTA FIND THE RIGHT RECORD OR THE LABEL WANT US 2 GET THINGS GOIN ON OUR SIDE 1ST…….SO WHATS THE PURPOSE OF A A&R AND PROMOTIONS AND MARKETING PEOPLE ?IF YALL GONNA TELL A NEW ARTIST WHAT THEY GOTTA DO ON THEY OWN IT SHOULD B NO NEED 4 NONE OF THESE OTHER MOTHERFUCKERS GETTIN CHECKS 4 NO REASON…….5 PART SERIES THAT
This has been the most interesting blogs I have ever been on including my own beause we are all on here debating and discussing this music business shit. There are DJ’s, Lawyers, producers, and real music lovers on this site talking back & Forth and we reading everyone else comments to. You even had lames like Diamond Dollar on this site really talking about how they feel and not holding back.
@TMA
We needed this platform to really talk about music business and what it did was help us look into ourselves to really see why we love this industry. So I thank you 10 times over. These last five days your site has some of the realist people on it. I look forward to all things in the future with this site.
@JD
Look at you, sitting at the top of music’s platform but you are so for the people. Diddy, Jay-Z or anyone else would not do what you just done and have been doing. That’s talking with the people. Next time you do this, you should get some of us in the same room and let loose with the video camera there.
Well. I can’t see the vid on my kick. Buuuuut. In re: to allicia allout. I loved the jd thing, yes. But I’m so ready for tma to be back to normal. Like I aint laughed at a post in a minute. Can we get back to shooting the shit and watching footage from in the club? This shit feel like a roundtable. I’m not mad at it….but this week… its like waaaaiting on jd’s posts. Me no likey.
But! Yeah this was a good look.
hey Jd
I totally agree with the statement you made about this generation trying to get into the music business. people nowadays definitely aren’t studying the those that came before them and how hard it was. from a producer’s standpoint, when i had first started, i tried to approach the understand of becoming a producer by studying everyone that came before me. as far as what they did contributed to albums and such, i looked at people like pete rock, dj premiere, large professor, organized noise..etc so unlike most people in this generation, i actually respect and appreciate what was done for us.
couple of people you need to interview la reid, puffy, jay-z, quincy jones, dj premiere, al green, aretha franklin, patti labelle, babyface. what really needs to happen is people with money need to start new radio stations and try to change the landscape a little bit i think radio is still essential to music. People get creative off what they hear and if these radio stations keep playin what they want us to hear instead of what needs to be played we will continue to get the same result.
no vid on the sk.. or the work comp for that matter but.. its empowering to hear real shit from real ppl . We need to know how jd’s, jay-z’s, et cetera feel about industry shit.. everything need not be a hollywood production (reasons why I only partially fck with diddy).
also other industry types would be a good look. a&r et cetera. we hear about it but seeing it is something different. so that maybe these fools would see that there is no real overnight success.. you may have a hot single but that doesn’t secure longevity…
Ok,first of all I would like to say much respect to the accomplishments that Mr.JD has accomplished.
Now to address the state of Hip-Hop/Rap/Urban music.It is saturated with BS,In order to regain the strength of HipHop those impowered need to throwout what the record companies want and shove the good music down the throats of the listeners.That what they do anyhow with most of this garbage thats on the radio today.So once you have made it big use your power to your advantage! Don’t continue to put out Bs!
ITS IN AN EXCITING INSIGHT TO HEAR AND SEE WHEN AN EXEC TALKS THE BUSINESS. I REALLY APPRECIATE HIM TAKING THE TIME TO MAKE IT HAPPEN AND DIVULGE HIS THOUGHT PROCESS. I WANNA BE IN HIS POSITION
That one was nice. Freddy-O? Isn’t that SR’s paprazzi dude who she says she gets all of these stories from about the club and then retracts that shit 10 mins later?:) Riiight… anyway.
I like this who 5 part series thing. The only thing I’m mad at, TMA, is that the blog slowed down once these went up. Personally, and me and Bean were kicking it on AIM talking about this at my lunch (EST)…. we wondered why a Dondria interview didn’t go up this week and/or update. Good look on the T Waters and Q Da Kid. But Gossip Girlz almost got like a mini vacation as well this week. It seemed like TMA slowed down as these series’ were going up. Im sure– the ones that were not fake— plenty of new eyes came to TMA this week… I thought y’all would capitialize on that and just blast the site with mad info while using these vids as bait. I didn’t see that happen. That’s the only thing I was disappointed with this week. Because what the hell is going to happen on Monday? I mean these vids are special do they can’t become normal… I don’t know. Its just my opinion.
But I like the Living the Life series’. I think they accomplish just what JD said he wants them to in that vid. And we also get to comment on them and be heard. Such a good look.
The whole series is exactly what is needed and if more industry types step up to add their own words, could be most def the right platform for the upcoming next generation to better and improve upon the business. Thank you JD for a very informative series… it’s not just the advice you give but what people get and do with it…
[Scribez-BHHP]
in reality they have become a fan of the marketing instead of the music
I agree wit you HH, cosign that; in all respect to J.D., it really is time to get back to the norm of thangs and hey J.D. if you looking at this why don’t you get in on some of the norm to, it might just be good medicine to ya bra, ya dig?, looking forward to the next story, or video TMA.
SHAZ
First off, great video series JD, just wish it could’ve been a little longer. Hearing HONESTY from one of the moguls in the music business has to be refreshing to a lot of ears. I know a couple of cats in the hip hop industry personally so I have gotten to see first hand, perception as oppose to reality. The shit kind of reminds me of the WWF or to the younger crowd WWE. I realize its all about image and having yourself perceived in a certain way but at the same time, when these young cats are looking at this, all they see is the END result of years of hard work. The grind is hardly ever brought to the light, especially the business end. Thats why most artists careers end before they ever really start. JD, keep droppin that knowledge and givin insight to the reality of the game cause the shit is so sorely needed.
Official
Get of dis catts tip… Its easy to make your first million at 19 when your father is a top executive in da music game… I’m not hating on how he got on, but don’t make it seem like you did it by yourself bruh. I’m really interested to see how his comments about the “Death of the DJ” affects his upcoming projects or science experiments!!! We’ll probably get a good indication off of Wayne’s first week sales do to his comments about mixtape dj’s… Dat Carter III has been in every hood in my city since last week, and I’m assuming that’s the case in every other city.
WOW… are people mad that MM used to be an exec? I mean, the WORLD is about who you know… it’s ONE thing to get put on… it’s another thing to make HISTORY. Shit… no one talks about how when JD got on they were getting “sued left and right because JErmaine was sampling everyone’s music” (and that’s a DIRECT quote from Michael Mauldin himself).
Who gives a fuck how he got his foot in the door… thats some hater shit. You see Diddy’s younger cousin had a track on here last week. That shit is flaming garbage. Dope track… horrible vocals. SO! I guess it aint all about how you got there… its what you do once u get there.
Why is this topic not available to the masses? This needs to be discussed on BET and our own urban radio stations. This should become a movement. If people started calling the radio stations telling them to stop playing this bullshit they we could get somewhere. Then again maybe we won’t have to, because any business man’s or woman’s common sense would tell them that when sales go down and marketing ain’t working, it’s time for something new and different. When sales started to go down for the Microsoft Xbox they brought out something better. They also had the common sense to fix the damn mistakes they were driving their consumers away.
BIG SHOUT TO JD for speaking on this. The music industry sucks right now. I haven’t heard or had the inclination to buy an album in a long time. I think a part of the problem is the quality of the artists has declined greatly. By quality I mean the image and the personality of the artists just suck. For example, “Who the fuck is Young Berg?” and why should I want to know?
Earlier artists from every region at one point came out and you were genuinely interested in them and the content. Also, they were presented in a great manner. Who knows the answer to the questions, but thanks for presenting it. but JD’s right, the music sucks, the DJ sucks, and how black artists are being handled in the media is disturbing. When i watch BET all I see is “blackface”.
I appreciate the knowledge. The bottom line is we are in a Long Tail Market that will require legitmate talent, business savy, regional support and quality decision making skills because the days of the blockbuster mega hit are winding down. The playing field is more level than ever before and I intend to take full advantage of it.
Artists (musicians), fim makers and authors can cut out the middle man known as major companies in favor of worldwide distribution via the internet. If you are in it to live JD’s life quit because he’s got that job covered.
The love of the craft and the mastery of it will lead you to the diamonds. But if your music isn’t timeless your time is up. The Long Tail market requires music with a long life because the music has to continue to live (sales wise) repeatedly whether the video is on 106th and Park or not.
I Love the free classes! I would like to request more JD (he’s the most selfless/giving (of real info) of the Bosses), Queen Latifah (most versatile and the only one nominated for an Oscar) and Berry Gordy (he really needs to break down the singles market because I think that would save the game right now).
When you win 1 time they call you a champion
When you win 4 times they call you dynasty
When you win 21times they call you SO SO DEF!!!!!!!
JD keep killing the haters with the hits. People fail to realize that you are the man, when it comes down to this industry. I have learned alot from you man, too much. These haters got to do there research asap. Other than that though, the Geisha House was off da chain May 30th, in Atlantic Station huh? Chris Jones will always be So So Def ya digg?? http://www.myspace.com/tha_bank or type Mr. So So Def in search bars in myspace. Lets get it JD!
JD what up fam this is Millz1 from Mixxbosses.com .. keep doing what you do ? LOOKING FOWARD to chopping it with you again real soon . peace and respect fam .
@ DEE
don’t even get me started about BET… the ppl over there need their asses whooped. But i do agree that this could be taken to a higher platform..